


The Drop of a Hat

by captainkippen



Category: Ackley Bridge (TV)
Genre: I don't know what this is or where I'm going with it, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 07:20:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15529095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainkippen/pseuds/captainkippen
Summary: Naveed gets worried when Cory goes quiet.





	The Drop of a Hat

It wasn’t that Naveed spent all his time thinking about Cory… he didn’t. Not usually, anyway. Today was a special case. It was a Saturday, so of course Naveed was practically dying from boredom, especially since he’d been grounded for life by his parents for lying to them about comedy night at the community centre. It had been the same way for a few weeks now, but normally he’d at least have Cory sending him stupid Snapchats (often zoomed in on Jordan’s face distorted by some weird filter) as entertainment. Not today though, Cory had been suspiciously silent today. Not a peep from him, even though Naveed had basically bombarded him with terrible jokes over Facebook. Naveed didn’t like it. It was the kind of silence that came from Cory hopping from one strange woman’s bed to another to make sure he actually had something to eat. It was unsettling.

Luckily, Riz was not pulling a disappearing act and when Naveed hit call he picked up on the second ring.

“Have you spoken to Cory today?”

“Well hello to you too,” Riz replied, sounding amused. 

He sighed and rolled his eyes impatiently. 

“He’s not answered any of my texts.”

“He’s not replied to me either,” Riz said. “I think he’s probably just asleep still or something.”

“It’s two in the afternoon.”

“Yeah but he sleeps like the dead, mate. You’ve seen him in history.” 

“Yeah… I s’pose so.”

By the time they hung up Naveed only felt marginally better about it. It didn’t feel right still like he knew Cory could sleep for days if he wanted, but he at least sent typo-filled half-asleep messages to remind them that he existed on occasion if it was one of those days. For such a chatty lad it seemed wrong that he’d been quiet so long. Naveed couldn’t even check to see when he was last active on messenger because Cory had switched off that setting to avoid his dad when he wasn’t in the mood to deal with him. Clearly there was only one way to find out.

***

Sneaking out of the house was easier than he’d anticipated. His mum was out doing the shopping and his father was suitably distracted by some important phone call in the conservatory - he didn’t even notice Naveed come down the stairs. He’d snuck through the kitchen, gathering a variety of snacks as quickly as he could just in case Cory was out of food again, and then slid out the door. It was possibly the sneakiest he’d ever been in his life. He felt a little bit proud of himself for it.

The walk to Cory’s house wasn’t too bad. It took a little longer than expected because it turned out that juggling an armful of groceries and trying not to get seen by your neighbours (otherwise known as snitches) at you sneaked through various winding alleys wasn’t as easy as it sounded. At one point the bag of apples he’d been clutching in his left hand had torn and he’d almost dropped everything in his haste to gather the fruit back up. By the time he’d reached the right street, he was actually a little exhausted.

How he felt was nothing compared to how Cory looked when he swung open the door though.

“Bloody hell, when did you last shower?” Naveed asked in shock.

Cory was a mess. His hair was dishevelled, he had a five o’clock shadow and the bags under his eyes looked like they could carry all the food Naveed was holding for him. There were several questionable stains down the front of Cory’s shirt, and he was still in his slightly tattered pyjama pants. He looked a bit like he’d died. 

“What are you doing here?”

“Wow, could be a bit happier to see me, eh?” Naveed grinned and pushed his way past him into the hall. “I brought food and everything.”

The house was a tip. Children’s toys, upended cheerios and baby clothes littered the floor haphazardly. It looked like a bomb had gone off in Toys ’R Us. Then Naveed heard it. The sound of a baby crying in the living room. Loud, piercing wails. When he looked at him Cory looked like he was about to cry too.

Naveed had never met Cory’s son before, hadn’t even really thought about it, and now it seemed like an oversight on his part. He’d almost forgotten Cory was a dad at all. With everything going on with the Wilson brothers, in general, this almost felt like too much.

 

“Candice is away,” Cory said, rubbing his tired eyes. “A hen-do… or something. I said I'd look after Jamie. I thought I could do it.”

Right. One day Cory’s insistence that he could handle everything was going to kill him. Naveed shoved the armful of food at him.

“Go put this away, then take a shower,” He ordered.

“I can't, I've got to-”

“I've got it.”

He really must've been tired because Cory didn't argue at all. He just disappeared into the kitchen and left Naveed to head into the living room to find Jamie. 

He was sat in the middle of the floor surrounded by several tagged soft toys. Upon seeing him for the first time there was no doubt in Naveed’s mind that he was Cory’s son. They looked startlingly alike. The second Naveed stepped into the room Jamie stopped wailing, only to stare up at him with the same curious expression often seen on Cory’s face.

Naveed was suddenly confronted with the fact that this was a child, and he was a 17-year-old boy with no childcare experience except for occasionally holding one of his baby cousins while his aunt had a rest.

He crouched down and waved awkwardly at Jamie.

“Hey, pal. I'm your dad’s friend, Naveed.”

Jamie blew a raspberry. Naveed laughed.

“Now we've got the introductions out the way…” He moved forward and gently picked up Jamie, lifting him carefully into the cot at the edge of the room. Jamie giggled slightly as Naveed relocated him, and Naveed had to admit he was a little bit charmed. Once Jamie was safely in the cot he started to tidy, keeping an eye on the baby the whole time, who watched him in return.

By the time Cory came back downstairs from his shower, the house looked a bit more liveable than before and Cory actually looked like a living person again.

“Oh good, you don't smell like the inside of a bin bag anymore,” He teased.

“You didn't have to do all this,” Cory said with a smile.

Naveed shrugged. “Thought you could use some help. Speaking of help, where's Jordan?”

Cory flopped onto the sofa with a sigh.

“He was helping, but he had to go out. He got a job.”

“A job?”

“Yeah. A properly legal one and all.”

“Wow,” Naveed said. “Jordan Wilson following the rules. The world really is ending.”

Cory laughed and Naveed had to dodge a gentle kick aimed at his legs. It always made him feel slightly fuzzy inside when Cory laughed at his jokes. He sat down on the sofa next to him, and they both spent a few minutes making stupid faces at Jamie through the bars of the cot.

“How'd you convince your parents to let you come out?” Cory asked, after a few minutes of silence. “I thought I was a 'bad influence’.”

Naveed snorted. 

“I didn't.”

“You didn't.” Cory raised his eyebrows. “You snuck out to bring me food?”

“Got worried when you were answering your texts.”

“Sorry about that. I dunno where I put my charger.”

“That’s not really surprising mate considering the state of the place when I got here.”

Cory winced, then nodded towards Jamie. “I couldn't get him to stop crying for ages. Tried everything. Changed his nappy, fed him, even tried singing him to sleep. Kind of forgot about everything else. He only really calmed down when you got here. How'd you manage it?”

“Maybe he was just sick of only seeing your ugly mug.”

Cory kicked him again. Naveed laughed.

“Seriously though,” Cory said. He took Naveed’s hand where it was resting on the sofa between them and squeezed it. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“It were nothing,” Naveed squeezed his hand in return. “Anything for you.”

Cory didn't let go of his hand, and a few minutes later he had fallen asleep where he was sprawled in his seat while Naveed looked on fondly.

**Author's Note:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
